A high-powered offense will clash with a goaltender owning one of the highest save percentages in the nation when the Penn State University Nittany Lions travel to Columbus this weekend for a series against the Ohio State University Buckeyes.

     Penn State (6-1-0, 0-0-0) is averaging 4.29 goals per contest while Ohio State’s Jakub Dobeš has a .964 save percentage and owns .86 goals against average.

    Dobeš, from Ostrava, Czech Republic, was named the Hockey Commissioner’s Association National Rookie of the Month for October after posting a 4-1-0 record in his first month of college hockey.

     When asked about the offensive prowess of the Nittany Lions during a press event this week Dobeš observed, “They try to score a lot of goals, but we will be prepared. We will show up confident and hopefully we will take the win.”

     During the recent two games series split with Michigan State University, Dobeš faced a total of 37 shots. The freshman netminder should be busier against the Nittany Lions as Penn State is averaging 37.9 shots per game.

     Certainly, to be successful, the Buckeyes will need to limit chances for the Nittany Lions and a strong defensive effort by Ohio States forward lines will be critical.

     “The key to beating Penn State is to possess pucks. They are an aggressive team,” declared Ohio State’s sophomore forward Patrick Guzzo. “As long as we have puck control most of the game they’re going to be running around. As long as we play man-to-man and block shots, we’ll be fine.”

     Ohio State head coach Steve Rohlik offered similar observations noting that, “They (Penn State) are pretty dynamic offensively. They throw everything at you. (We) have to possess more pucks. (We) have to be smart. We have to go out there and take care of the puck, that’s the biggest thing.”

      Both teams skate into the weekend carrying momentum of recent victories as the Buckeyes defeated the Spartans 5-1 last Saturday and Penn State knocked off the perennially strong University of North Dakota 6-4 in a neutral sight game. The Nittany Lions’ victory vaulted them into the Top 20 (16th place) in the USCHO.com poll.